RVA Restaurant Review: The Savory Grain

I had been excited to try The Savory Grain for awhile, ever since it opened up in place of The Empress. When Alex and I were meeting some friends for dinner and they suggested we give it a try, I was glad to give it a shot.

When we arrived, it was fairly crowded but we didn’t have to wait for a table and we were seated quickly. There were three pages of drink menus, since they have tons of beers on tap, and they also had an extensive wine and cocktail menu. Alex and our friends were looking for beer, but since I’m not much of a beer drinker, I scanned the wine options. I almost went for something sparkling, but then the Chardonnay Roulette caught my eye. It was basically a mystery Chardonnay and at $6 a class, it seemed like a pretty good option. It really hit the spot (it was a 2008 something, although I don’t remember the exact name) and I ended up getting two classes throughout dinner.

We started with the Artichoke and Kale Bruchetta, which was warm kale and artichokes served with large pieces of toasted bread smothered in creamy goat cheese. It was just as delicious as it sounds, and it was a pretty large appetizer, serving all 4 of us.

As we scanned the menu, I was happy to see a handful of vegetarian options. They also had tons of gluten free dishes, so if you’re avoiding gluten, you would have lots of choices. I settled on the warm kale salad, since I apparently couldn’t get enough kale, and Alex had the Portabella mushroom sandwich.

My salad was quite good. The kale was lightly sauteed, and it was tossed in a delicious vinaigrette. It was topped with grilled cherry tomatoes, slivered almonds, pecorino and goat cheese. It was only $9 but filling enough for an entree. Alex had a few bites and I still couldn’t quite finish it.

Alex liked his portabella mushroom sandwich, although he’s not a huge fan of pimento cheese. (Us northerners just don’t quite get it.) If you like pimento cheese then it would be a good option, but otherwise it might be worth swapping in a different type of cheese. It was served on a buttery croissant and came with crisp french fries. All of that for $9 as well.

I was impressed with the quality of the dishes and the ingredients, and also the prices. The entrees are (obviously) a little more expensive, in the $15-$25 range, but it’s nice that the salads and sandwiches are fairly inexpensive if you’re dining out on a budget.

Update: We’ve been back here many times since our first initial visit! We’ve even gotten takeout including their delicious macaroni and cheese.

And of course, more of their warm kale salad, which seems to have updated ingredients based on the season!